Daily Archives: September 26, 2017

When I first saw this story go by this morning, I thought for sure it was fake news. Silly me, it’s not. Photos surfaced today of a West Point alumnus and combat veteran who was holding a pro-Colin Kaepernick “Communism Will Win” sign within his cap and while he was in uniform. This really ticked off the military community. I’m still hearing about it.

I am appalled that an alumnus of West Point would do this. He’s an outright, unapologetic communist and proud of it. He should be booted from the military. Infantry Officer Spenser Rapone had his pics posted on a popular military news site today and a massive debate concerning the NFL protests and the National Anthem ensued. Of course, Colin Kaepernick was a big part of the discussion as he started all of this in 2016. “I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure Colin Kaepernick wasn’t protesting in favor of communism. #ThatGuy,” wrote “Doctrine Man,” who is the moderator of a well-known Facebook page frequented by active military personnel and veterans. No, but he might as well have. He’s protesting for militant, radical racism and it is all wrapped up in communism. See Black Lives Matter.

Rapone’s Twitter handle is “Punk Proletarian,” under the name “Commie Bebop.” How apropos. He raised a clenched fist in support of Kaepernick in his photo. Another pic showed Rapone revealing a Che Guevara shirt under his uniform. Several sites picked up on the commie soldier… chief among them were LawNewz.com and Gateway Pundit. Rapone uses hashtags such as #CommunismWillWin, #Marxwasright and #VeteransForKaepernick.

“Old school grunt here, I was in Berlin when the Wall fell,” wrote Rick Wynne on the Doctrine Man Facebook page. “I can tell you I would NEVER have expected to see photos like these. Wow! I mean, wow! What the hell has happened to the Army? No body policed this crap up when it happened?” John Zehmisch added, “This old First Sergeant recommends that this prior enlisted soldier be given UCMJ action, a thunk on the head for being stupid and a one-way ticket to the front gate.” Another reader, Stephen Stout, stated, “He needs to be discharged for conduct unbecoming of an officer and failure to uphold his oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. Communist extremism is not compatible with being a Soldier in the U.S. Army. He needs to be punished by UCMJ to the fullest extent.”

Rapone is also inciting violence. In an op-ed he posted on Medium on Aug. 16th, just a few days after the tragic events in Charlottesville, Virginia, between Antifa, Black Lives Matter, the KKK, white supremacists and communists (all fighting over Confederate monuments supposedly), he called for the nation to “come together and dismantle [America’s] racist structures, both in word, but more importantly, in deed.” This guy is embarrassing West Point. They issued a statement after that saying that the officer’s actions “in no way reflect the values of the U.S. Military Academy or the U.S. Army. As figures of public trust, members of the military must exhibit exemplary conduct, and are prohibited from engaging in certain expressions of political speech in uniform,” the statement read. “Second Lieutenant Rapone’s chain of command is aware of his actions and is looking into the matter. The academy is prepared to assist the officer’s chain of command as required.”

Now, the hundreds of tweets this asshat has put out are being scrutinized. He obviously is enamored with Democratic Socialists of America. Pro Tip: Communism is a political theory penned by Karl Marx that advocates class war and a society where the lower class would revolt and take down the upper class, destroying capitalism and bringing about socioeconomic emancipation where all property is publicly owned and people are paid based on their skills and needs. Rapone tweeted: “In case there was any lingering doubt, hasta la victoria siempre,” which means “until victory, always,” and are lyrics to a song that became famous after Guevara’s death in 1967.

“[Democratic Socialists of America Veterans] issued me this CIB [Combat Infantryman Badge] for satisfactory performance under hostile enemy posting online in the twitter firefight of 26JUL,” he tweeted in August, using the hash tag “Troop Left.” And he tweeted about why he joined DSA: “I joined because capitalism has basically ruined my life since I was born.” Do tell. Just wait until you experience communism for real, you idiot. He also refers to West Point as “a bastion of reactionary politics and imperialist violence.” Doing West Point proud. This guy is a big supporter of everything communist, Antifa and Black Lives Matter.

He tweeted in August: “Looting is good,” “I hate capitalism,” and “If you’re against antifa then by definition you’re profa.” It’s a case of either with us or against us… either you are Antifa or you are a fascist. For those wanting a better definition of Antifa and their history, here’s Trevor Loudon’s latest documentary – it’s fantastic:

On his Twitter profile, Rapone writes: “Troop Left, Commie/space cowboy/straight edge insomniac,” and tags the Democratic Socialists Veterans page. From a Marxist point of view, socialism is a transitional state between the lower class revolt and the overthrow of capitalism and full-blown communism. Antifa is all over Europe. They are uber-violent and proudly communist. And they are spreading here in the US along with the DSA and CPUSA. Rapone is a radical communist and a true enemy from within. He’s a danger to our military and to America in general. Let’s hope the military shows him the gate. Then he can spend all his time with Antifa until he’s taken down.

Richard L. Trumka is president of the 12.5-million-member AFL-CIO. An outspoken advocate for social and economic justice, Trumka is the nation’s clearest voice on the critical need to ensure that all workers have a good job and the power to determine their wages and working conditions. He heads the labor movement’s efforts to create an economy based on broadly shared prosperity and to hold elected officials and employers accountable to working families.

Per the AFL-CIO website, Trumka in part made this statement:

Racism plays an insidious role in the daily lives of all working people of color. This is a labor issue because it is a workplace issue; it is a community issue, and unions are the community. Philando Castile was a union member, and so his family is our family. Last year the AFL-CIO launched a Commission on Racial and Economic Justice to address the issues faced by our brothers and sisters of color and to take a hard look at ourselves to ensure we practice what we preach. The Commission aimed to educate working people on the way racism weakens the collective power of all working people.

It is haunting that only two years ago I delivered a speech in St. Louis in the aftermath of Mike Brown’s death denouncing systemic racism in the United States. Since then, hundreds of people have lost their lives in incidents involving police officers, and African-Americans continue to be disproportionately impacted. Labor cannot and will not sit on the sidelines when it comes to racial justice. It is not enough to simply say “Black Lives Matter.” We must and will continue to fight for reforms in policing and to address issues of racial and economic inequality.

It was without much press, but after the matter of Charlottesville, many of President Trump’s advisory committees that had members from private industry and unions, disbanded. Richard Trumka was one such person just last month that quit.

The president of the AFL-CIO stepped down from a council advising the White House on Tuesday, hours after President Trump reiterated that both sides were to blame for deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., where white supremacist groups rallied over the weekend.

“President Trump’s remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement.

He announced that both he and AFL-CIO leader Thea Lee would step down from Trump’s Manufacturing Advisory Board.

“We must resign on behalf of America’s working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups.”

Trumka said earlier Tuesday he was still considering whether to leave the advisory board after Trump condemned racism as “evil.”

But Trump’s blame of the “alt-left” for charging white supremacist and neo-Nazi protesters prompted Trumka and Lee to leave the board.

Trump on Tuesday warned CEOs on his several advisory panels that they could be easily replaced for expressing their political views, following the departure of three business chiefs from a manufacturing board on Monday.

“For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place,” Trump tweeted. “Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!”

Four CEOs left Trump’s American Manufacturing Council following his widely criticized response to violence this weekend in Charlottesville, Va., where white nationalists and neo-Nazis held a large rally and fought with counterprotesters, leading to the death of one counterprotester.

What does this have to do with the NFL? Notice below, the NFL Players Union… The head of the NFL Players Association sits on the executive council of the AFL-CIO, a labor union federation. Trumka loves the money access and it is no wonder the league and owners are capitulating with the players… they cannot afford a strike, a walk out.

Despite generating more than $12 billion in annual revenue, the National Football League doesn’t have enough money to cover future retirement benefits, but the league has been working hard to close the funding gap in its pension plan which covers more than 12,000 current and former NFL players in 2016.

These spots alert Americans to the threats to their freedoms that their leaders distract from and ignore. If we are going to defend our freedom, we must speak clearly and openly about the dangers of terrorism … dishonest leadership … hatred toward our law enforcement … how our culture of political correctness destroys our freedom of speech and religion … and how all freedoms are connected.

Americans are worried about the future of the country, the opportunities left for their children and grandchildren, the lack of honest, moral leadership from the White House to the news media all the way down to many of our schools and businesses.

These are the most important issues facing America today. And no other organization in American history has done more to defend and advance freedom’s cause than the National Rifle Association of America: Freedom’s Safest Place.

If the averages stage a considerable decline, it would be the most predicted drop in history. It appears everyone is now forecasting a drop between 10% and 25%. The primary catalyst for the decline… rising interest rates.

Some firms are more detailed about their prognostications, rationale ranging from an “extremely crowded trade” in the mega-sized technology growth issues, to the breakdown of the cross-correlated trade to the radical change in the geopolitical and macroeconomic environment.

I too think the popular averages could decline 10% to 15% for all the reasons listed above, amplified by the massive passivity of most investors. It is my first-hand experience that most are more risk adverse than suggested. Moreover, I ardently believe that if passivity was the pathway to outperformance, all would become gazillionaires over time.

In my view, markets can only operate so long in a period of little research or socioeconomic/geopolitical analysis. There must be some forward looking thought and thesis.

Yesterday, the NASDAQ fell about 1%, a decline lead by mega-sized technology issues as money rotated into the value (aka oil and financial shares). The Dow ended nominally lower.

Today, FRB Chair speaks in Cleveland. Will her comments be of any significance?

Last night the foreign markets were mixed. London was down 0.06%, Paris was down 0.03% and Frankfurt was up 0.08%. China was up 0.06%, Japan was down 0.33% and Hang Sang was up 0.05%.

The Dow should open nominally lower as clarity is lacking on interest rates, taxes and North Korea. The 10-year is unchanged at 2.22%.